- Posts: 60
- Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:16 am
- Real Name: Michael deGruccio
Any of those approaches to mixing colors temperatures is valid, depending on the creative goals for the look of the scene and the limitations of available light, equipment, crew and time.
The best way to learn is direct experience, so if you have the ability to either work or even simply volunteer as an extra pair of hands on actual productions, I'd highly recommend doing that before spending your cash on a kit.
A talented gaffer who I've worked with, Alan Steinheimer, wrote an excellent book on lighting that I think you'll find useful:
https://www.amazon.com/Shaping-Light-Video-Age-LEDs/dp/0367819090/
Another useful resource for learning about lighting is:
https://www.hurlbutacademy.com
Art Adam's articles series, Stunning Good Looks, is another excellent resource. Two really useful ones are on fast interview lighting setups (as time can too often be the limiting factor):
https://www.provideocoalition.com/the_simplest_fastest_interview_lighting_setup-ever/
https://www.provideocoalition.com/the-simplest-interview-setup-ever-the-modern-update/
If you're going to invest in LED, might as well go with the adjustable kelvin options over strictly daylight. Though for situations where the greatest possible output is needed, the daylight only models usually deliver the most light output over bi-color.
Newsshooter.com has solid reviews of pretty much every available LED on the market.
Better than reviews is to test them out yourself. If you're located anywhere near a rental house, you can rent a few different lights and spend time testing what works best for you. If you're located far from a rental house, Borrowlenses.com has a variety of lights that will ship to your door.
And, while not an LED light, this is worth a look: https://www.thelightbridge.com
Depending on how you intend to work, investing in grip equipment rather than lights is often the better place to start, especially since LED lighting changes every year. Good grip equipment will last for decades and can be used with any light available at the location, whether that's the sun or lighting units already there. One of the earliest feature docs I shot was on Burgundy winemakers where for some of the trips we were only able to carry grip equipment and lit the locations with either reflected/diffused sunlight or used the halogen work lights that the winemakers all had lying around for working in their cellars.